Right of Substitution
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: 100 days left until The Rise of Skywalker - oh my god! I wrote this based on the Palpatine possession leak and taking it down a very romantic path. There are two pretty clear musical theatre references in here, so keep your eyes peeled for those. Please, read and REVIEW and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: We're Together Now

**Chapter 1: We're Together Now**

His brain felt like it was burning. Like he had the biggest migraine ever and he could not get it out. His thoughts were jumping rapidly between his own and the musings of something very foreign - the designs of this invading combatant. The rape of his mind was forceful, and yet the voice inside his head was soothing - an odd dichotomy indeed, but one that Kylo Ren was sadly all too familiar with. Snoke and Palpatine - from a tactical standpoint, they were both the same.

_You're nervous, take my hand... all is settled, all is planned... you've got the world at your command. I don't think you understand. _

But Kylo did understand. Growling, he summoned the Force to try and push Palpatine out of his head. _I appreciate too well the squalor at which you excel. It isn't very hard to tell - evil's a distinctive smell..._ Across the ruins of the Death Star, he looked to Rey, her eyes wide in concern for him, but mixed also with pride that he was putting up a fight. Her body rocked a little, balanced on the balls of her feet, ready to charge into the fray and protect him at any moment.

Momentarily thrown out of Kylo's mind, the spirt of Palpatine stared at the grandson of Vader in disbelief. Following the man's gaze to the beautiful woman across from him, understanding dawned. _He's lost all sense of reason... and why? Some foreign SLUT! Not only is that treason, some doors are slamming shut._ He thought of Anakin, his former apprentice, held back by a very similar problem. _And just like him, he's found that flesh can excite, but will it mesh? Once we rid him of this plight, once that harlot's out of sight, then I think he'll see the light, he won't walk back to Daddy, he will run! _Believing he still had the advantage, Palpatine pursued the mental advance again. This time, he got close... dangerously close. Kylo's eyes went wide with panic.

"Rey!" he cried. "Kill me! Kill me! Do it now!"

Blinking back tears, Rey shook her head. "Don't do this, Ben! Please don't go this way! You're asking me to go down a path I can't follow! You're breaking my heart! I can't... I won't! I love you!"

Kylo stared at her with love. "You could never hurt me. I just feel you..." His soothing words spurned Rey to do the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.

And that was leap forward, swing Anakin's lightsaber, and cut down the man she loved.

There was a vicious, violent scream as Palpatine's spirit, now without a host, emerged and fled from the Death Star ruins. There was a blinding flash as the spirit exploded, disappearing forever. Ben Solo, once known as Kylo Ren, crumpled to the ground. Rey sank to her knees beside him and cradled him in her arms, resting his head in her lap. Her tears fell upon his upturned face like sweet rain.

Unseen by the couple, Luke Skywalker smiled in approval and raised his arm. The wind howled quite suddenly throughout the ruins and Ben's body stirred. Rey stared down in amazement, her brown eyes searching.

"Ben?"

Slowly, to her astonishment, Ben Solo opened his eyes. Brought back to life, he fixed Rey with a bleary, confused stare. "Hey."

A gasp bubbling from her, Rey kissed him. Grabbed his face and kissed his lips. When he tried to talk around her insistent mouth, she merely parted his lips and plunged her tongue in between the split. She breathed into his mouth and licked his lips, licked her way into his mouth and stole breath from his lungs. It was as if she was trying to breathe back life into his body with her kiss. After several minutes, Ben and Rey broke apart violently. Rey looked adorably scandalized, her face permanently flushed. She had no idea what to say. But there was nothing to say, as little by little, Ben smiled. Weakly, Rey smiled back and they kissed again chastely.

The sounds of running feet made them jump apart. A second later, a crowd of Resistance fighters rounded the corner, only to pause in disbelief at the sight around them: one Knight of Ren, dead on the floor after being denied his opportunity to play host to the Emperor. Kylo Ren nestled in Rey's arms.

Being the commander that he was, Poe Dameron sprang into action, pointing at Ben. "Arrest that man immediately!"

"NO!" Rey cried, clutching him close. She did not want to let him out of her sight or her arms. "You want him, you'll have to arrest us both!" There was a stupefied silence throughout the ruins as Rey began to dissolve into tears, her eyes pleading as she begged of her friend:

"Please, Poe. I can't lose him. I'm in love. Do you know what that feels like?"

Finn, Rose and Jannah all exchanged looks of revolted horror. Poe's expression, meanwhile, was more difficult to read. He chanced a look at Zorri Bliss, who just smiled at him in tender sympathy. For a moment, the bounty hunter seemed to stir his heart.

"Yes... I know what that feels like..." However, in the next instant, the sympathy was gone again as he shook his head. "But that doesn't change what must be redressed. Kylo Ren must answer for his crimes. Take him away."

And a regretful Finn yanked Ben out of Rey's arms, Rey screaming and crying and clawing all the way.


	2. Chapter 2: One Last Night

**Chapter 2: One Last Night**

Ben Solo was dragged back to the Resistance base on Coruscant in chains. A court martial was hastily thrown together, with Mon Mothma as the presiding judge. The evidence was laid out by a prosecuting attorney; though the farthest thing from a lawyer by trade, Lando Calrissian put up a valiant defense of his nephew, using Rey as the star witness.

Mon Mothma, however, was unmoved. "I find Kylo Ren, born Ben Solo, to be guilty as charged of murder, war crimes and possession of unlawful weaponry. He is to be sentenced to death, set for December 16th, Galactic Year 5931. May the Maker have mercy on your soul. Take him to prison."

Poe looked delighted. "Thank you, Your Honor."

"STOP!" Rey leapt forward from the crowd. "I demand the right of substitution. Take me in his place."

"NO!" Finn bellowed, but Rose and Jannah held him back. The right of substitution could be demanded by anyone, at any time, according to galactic law. Essentially, a volunteer could petition to serve a sentence in place of the convicted. Though rarely used, galactic court had no choice but to honor the petition, provided it was offered voluntarily.

Ben grabbed at Rey. "What are you _doing_?" he hissed.

"Saving your life!" she held his eyes. The attending guard had no choice but to free Ben of his bonds and put Rey in chains. Ben could only stare at her in disbelief and crippling love, taking in her beauty while clothed in her white Jedi robes. His appreciation of her garments gave Rey an idea and she turned back to Mon Mothma.

"Your Honor, if it pleases you... I would like to take this man as my husband. Will you marry us?" Gasps of shock and uproar went up, but Mon Mothma banged her gavel.

"Order in the Court!" she bellowed. She then addressed Rey. "Master Jedi, while this is... highly irregular, there is no reason why you should not be married in a court of law. Please, stand before me." The prisoner and Ben stood before the bench.

"Ben Solo, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live, until death do you part?"

"I do," Ben said firmly. Rey beamed. He had been surprised when she had impulsively proposed marriage, but that he was willing to marry her even under these circumstances made her heart sing.

"Rey of Jakku, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live, until death do you part?"

"Yes, I do," Rey whispered softly, but the courtroom was so silent, everyone heard her anyway. The last part of her vows was not lost on her, now that it was she, and not her spouse, who was sentenced to die.

"I now pronounce this couple man and wife. You may kiss the prisoner... er, bride," Mothma amended. Ben took his bride - standing in chains - in his arms and kissed her sweetly. Rey melted in acceptance and returned the wedding kiss. Absolutely no one applauded. Lando looked like was going to, but then sheepishly paused.

Ben and Rey broke apart lovingly, beaming into each other's eyes.

"I have one more proclamation," Mon Mothma announced. Ben and Rey turned to her. "Let the newlyweds spend their wedding night in the bride's cell together."

Ben and Rey looked at each other. Through their Bond, they thought the same thing: _Trap_. Rey cleared her throat. "Your Honor, we accept your mercy on one condition: you must give your word that come morning, my husband is allowed to walk free and leave Coruscant unharmed."

Mon Mothma cocked an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

"I'll Jedi mind trick you into doing it anyway," Rey stated calmly. Everyone in the courtroom squirmed. Mon Mothma looked ruffled. But she knew of the power the Jedi wielded, and decided it was best not to cross her. "Very well. You have my word and the word of this Court. Commander Dameron, take them away."

Poe bobbed his head, then escorted Rey and Ben to the jail. As soon as they were out of earshot, however, he hissed with rage in Rey's face, "You would dare subvert he who is your commanding officer?"

"You would have me surrender he who is my husband?" Rey gasped in offense. Poe glowered at her. Steaming, he opened the prison cell and nudged Rey and Ben inside before slamming the door behind them both with a clang.

Once the couple was alone, Rey smiled weakly. "Our wedding night... in jail." The joke fell pathetically flat, even to her own ears.

But her... _husband_ was no longer paying attention, frantically pawing at the walls looking for a hidden key, a chink in the edifice, anything. "There's gotta be a way out! There's no way out!"

"Ben: calm down..." Rey crooned. "Kiss me."

"It's not going to end this way - I won't let it!"

"Kiss me," Rey reached for him.

"And you... you had to... sacrifice yourself... for me..."

Rey spun him around. "Kiss me!" she practically begged him.

Ben suddenly grabbed her and ravished her mouth in a kiss that made Rey stagger back and squeak in surprise. The pair stumbled back into the wall of their cell with a smack and Rey swooned with a delirious moan. Ben had never kissed her this passionately... never...

He was touching her everywhere. With one hand, he grabbed a fistful of the globe that was her ass cheek. With the other, he swung her thigh up so that Rey could hook it around his waist. Spinning, Rey and Ben both lost their balance and tumbled onto the cot, bride landing beneath groom. Nearly swallowing his mouth with hers, Rey opened her knees, yanking Ben between her legs with a guttural groan. "Mmmm... Ben..." she sighed.

The evidence of her husband's lust for her jumped forward, gave a violent twitch against her flooded center. Clothes were grabbed for and torn, falling away into a haphazard heap at the foot of the cot. Rey and Ben paused in their kissing to gaze into each other's eyes.

"Put your hands on me, Ben. Take me," Rey whispered. Her lover obeyed. He assailed her virtue like the conqueror he was, shattering her virginity forever. Nails clawing at his back, Rey clutched him close with a tiny cry of pain. Always the consummate gentleman, Ben stopped.

"Are you all right?"

She smiled at him, though it came out as more of a loving grimace. "Never better. Just go slow." And Rey pulled him further inside her.

Ben shifted gently at first as their bodies rocked together, learning each other. Once Rey had regained her comfort, however, Ben thrust like a wild thing inside his wife, slamming deeper and deeper with the power of a beast. He and Rey made love like animals in heat, punctuated by grunts, growls and curses in every galactic language. But the sweetest sound Ben had ever heard was his wife moaning under him. Enjoying what he was doing to her.

"Uhhhhh... Mmmm... Hmmmmm... Huhhhh... Ben... Ben, I... Oh... Oh, my... Oh my stars... Ben!" Her toes curled, her body was twitching violently as she came apart against him. The sight of Rey orgasming caused Ben to lose it, and with a final grunt, he ejaculated deep inside her. Sharing a final kiss, Ben and Rey collapsed against each other in exhaustion and fell into a blissful sleep.

* * *

The sky was only just beginning to gray, the moon beginning its descent over Coruscant. The last of its beams bathed the nakedness of two people in an ethereal glow. Rey and Ben were clothed in nothing but a blanket, sleeping peacefully facing each other. Rey's head was on Ben's chest, tucked under his chin, before she shifted slightly in slumber with a content murmur.

The stirring of his wife caused Ben to wake. Glancing to the moon, he realized the night was waning fast. Disentangling himself from Rey's embrace, he got out of bed and moved to put on his clothes. A pretty hum behind him made him turn once he was nearly dressed to find Rey sitting up, drawing the bed sheet around herself.

"Good morning, my love. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

In answer, Rey let the bedsheets fall and she curled out over the cot, spreading her nakedness wide before him like a feast so he could take in her lower lips, the petals of her sex. Her coy smile was beckoning. "That you haven't done to me already?" she asked innocently, her voice husky. Ben laughed and turned away.

"Wait, stop!" Rey giggled. He turned back as she crawled over to him on her knees. "Oh, don't stop!" Husband and wife shared a chaste peck on the lips and Ben smiled.

"I _adore_ you," he whispered.


	3. Chapter 3: Dragged Apart

**Chapter 3: Dragged Apart**

The sun was rising when Poe Dameron and Finn, along with a battalion of Resistance troopers arrived to escort Ben Solo out of prison and from Coruscant. The Commander didn't know what he expected to find once there: Rey and Ben were standing before him expectantly, fully dressed. Only rumpled bedsheets on the cell cot indicated that they had done what husbands and wives do on wedding nights.

"Let's get this over with, Solo," Poe growled.

Rey and Ben glanced at each other. So here it was. Neither had expected it to come so soon. Letting free a sob, Rey ran into Ben's arms and kissed him. She continued to sob as she clung to him, kissing him again and again in little, desperate pecks. "Oh, Ben! I love you! Take me with you!"

"OK. Let's go," Ben whispered. He didn't care if they had to fight their way out. He would break his wife free of prison if that made her happy.

"Ben, if you carried me off to the _Falcon_ right now and forced me to go with you, I would do it!" Rey wept.

Ben took her by the waist and pulled her close. "Is that what you want?" he growled, his voice low and husky.

His wife hesitated. She turned back to look at Finn and Poe. The commander had a hand hovering over his gun. _They would hunt us_, she thought. And because she wanted Ben alive and safe, she willed herself to say, "No."

Watching the lovers, Finn was torn. "This is wrong," he murmured, only half to himself. "All of it. All of it is wrong."

Poe glared. "Silence in the ranks!" he barked to everyone in general, but directed at Finn. "Leave, Mr. Solo!"

Ben stepped out of the cell, Rey kissing him through the bars and reaching. "Don't leave me, Ben!" she sobbed.

"I'm not leaving you. I'll come back for you, sweetheart. I promise."

"I love you!"

He winked. "I know."

* * *

Rey reminded in prison for months. Spring burned into summer, which was in turn chilled by an early fall. All the while, Rey kept the faith, watching the skies, willing her husband to return. She had no doubt he would, she knew. He was probably just formulating a plan; jailbreaks were not an easy operation.

As she had as a little girl on Jakku, Rey kept a tally mark on the wall of her cell, of the number of days he had been gone. The number of days left until December 16th, 5931. And every night, she dreamed of her husband, her every thought of him.

_Last night, I watched him sleeping, my body primed to stay... And then he started speaking - the name I heard him speak was Rey... yes, I know that this was years ago, but when moonlight fills my room, I know... you are here still... Still... I still believe, you will return. I know you will! My heart, against all odds, holds still... Yes, still... I still believe. I know as long as I can keep believing, I'll live. I'll live - love cannot die. You will return... You will return... And I alone know why..._

Across the stars, Rey could sense through the Force Bond that Ben was having dreams of his own. Nightmares, whispering her name in his sleep...

* * *

As the Last Jedi's execution date drew steadily nearer, Poe and Finn grew increasingly concerned that they would actually have to go through with what Rey had forced them into going through with. They were arguing about it again, late one night in Poe's office, after Rose had come to them over her guard shift to report on the state of the prisoner.

"Maybe we should just set her free!" Finn pleaded.

Poe shook his head, though the thought was tempting. "You know the law. Ben Solo's crimes must be answered for. If it can't be him, then someone else must. Justice must be done."

"And keeping the wrong person in prison is JUSTICE?!" Finn screamed. "Killing her for nothing is JUSTICE?! Rey is going to die for _nothing_ \- don't you understand?!" He was in tears. "I can't watch my best friend _die_!"

"Makerdamn it, Finn! She outsmarted us! But what else can we do? She took on his sentence and..." Poe let out a strangled sob and hurled his blaster into a corner, before collapsing in his chair, head in his hands. Watching his other best friend set himself on edge, Finn knew that if Poe couldn't do the right thing... Finn would have to do it himself. Again.

* * *

Rey was awoken later that night by the clang of her cell door opening. Rising from her cot, she beheld Finn, illuminated by the glow of a lantern. Behind him, a prison officer stood by with the set of jail keys.

"Finn?"

"Rey! Come quickly, there's a ship that will take you far away from Coruscant."

"Where are the guards?"

"Either asleep or well-bribed. Now, come on!" He took her hand. "I don't care what you do or where you go," Finn said softly, "as long as it's away from here."

Rey gazed at her best friend. Something about his demeanor was... off, she sensed. "Finn," her gentle voice halted him. "Why are you doing this?" The last came out as a whisper.

And that's when Finn broke.

Yanking Rey into his arms, he kissed her mouth senselessly. Rey held the kiss for a moment, even as her eyes bulged in surprise, but then she pushed him away. "NO! I can't! This is wrong!" Standing her ground, she choked out through her tears her conviction. "I have a husband I love, real as the sun in the sky!"

"But, Rey -"

"My Ben will come for me," Rey promised, her voice having grown calmer.

"Rey..." Finn's eyes were beseeching. "_Please_."

She just smiled gently and shook her head. "Go, Finn. I know what I'm doing."


	4. Chapter 4: Execution Elopement

**Chapter 4: Execution Elopement**

The sun rose over a calm day on the morning of December 16th, 5931. Escorted from her cell, Rey stood before the guillotine, her head held high as she swept back the hem of her Jedi robes - the gown she had worn as a bride - before sinking to her knees and placing her neck upon the chopping block. The executioner raised the sharpened blade high above Rey's head and she closed her eyes, choosing to hand onto one image in her mind as she waited for the end: Ben on their wedding night and the feel of his lips on hers.

_I forgive you, Ben. I understand if you couldn't come for me. I love you._

There was a WHOOSH as the blade rushed down. But the nothingness of death didn't come. Rey opened her eyes. Glancing up, she saw that the blade for the guillotine had frozen in place. Perhaps it had gotten stuck.

But no... it was being stopped by... the Force...

The entire execution square just then exploded in a flurry of bombardment as a Jedi cruiser from the days on Geonosis roared into view over the prison wall. Seven figures in black rushed forward, cutting down guards and spectators alike. All were masked, except for one, now at their head and body-slamming a Resistance fighter down with the hilt of his lightsaber. There was no greater sight, Rey concluded, than the sight of her husband. _Ben_...

_Honey_, she sent out into their Bond, _do what you have to do, but spare my friends_. She sent him images of Poe, Finn, Rose and Jannah. She felt Ben receive and accept the command, and soon he was there, on the execution platform, cutting down the executioner and sweeping Rey off her feet.

"Hang on, sweetheart." And he carried his wife away, the Knights retreating onto the cruiser and taking off into the air. Safely in her husband's arms, Rey threw herself around his neck.

"I knew you'd come back," she whispered through her smile. And as Ben and Rey embraced and kissed, the Jedi cruiser disappeared into the sky...

* * *

The setting sun cast a fiery glow along the portico adjoining the Naboo palace. Ben and Rey faced each other, the groom clad in black Jedi robes, the bride adorned in a proper bridal gown. The dress had once been worn by former Queen Padmé Amidala, at her own wedding to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, decades ago.

The Holy Man blessed them, and Ben and Rey slowly extended their hands to each other. Taking Ben's hand, Rey allowed her husband to bend and kiss her sweetly on the mouth, the light of the setting sun capturing their lips joining in this sacred union. C-3PO and R2-D2 were the only witnesses to Ben and Rey Solo renewing their marriage vows in a proper church wedding this time. Their lips broke and reclaimed in an easy give-and-take, the waters of the lake shimmering beyond, the fragrant scent of the dying roses exploding in the garden below. Rey's lashes fluttered as her blissfully closed eyes finally opened and she gazed at her husband. The couple then turned to look out over the balcony, standing side by side, united in holy matrimony and in the Force.


End file.
